Students belonging to reserved categories will get a relaxation of 5% of marks in the entrance examinations conducted by universities for admission in M Phil and PhD programmes.

The university grants commission (UGC) has lowered the cut off from the current 50% to 45% for such candidates, amending its 2016 regulations.

The UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Awards of MPhil/PhD Degree) Regulations 2016 has been amended to reduce the cut off for students belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in view of a decline in the number of students getting admission under reserved categories.

The relaxation in cut off will also be applicable to the students falling under the differently-abled category.

The revised rules come into immediate effect from August 27 with the UGC notifying it in an official gazette.

“A relaxation of 5% of marks (from 50% to 45%) shall be allowed for the candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC (Non-Creamy layers)/Differently-abled category in the entrance examination conducted by the Universities,” the UGC's revised rules stipulate.

It also mandated the universities to launch a special admission drive for the students belonging to SC, ST, OBC and differently abled category within one month from the date of the closure of admissions of the general category students if the seats allotted for the reserved category students remained vacant despite 5% relaxation in cut off.

“The University concerned will devise its own admission procedure, along with eligibility conditions to ensure that most of the seats under these categories are filled.” the revised rules provide.

Delhi University students recently held a protest against the government on the issue, demanding a rollback of the UGC regulations for admission in M Phill and PhD programmes.